kidney infection

cja6335 · 10-23-2006, 07:27 PM

My dog recently had a kidney infection which we treated with antibiotics for 6 weeks. Our vet says the infection is gone and his enzymes and everything look normal, but his gravity level is a 10 when it should be around 40. The vet says this means he has lost 75% of his kidney function. She also says there is nothing we can do to prevent another kidney infection other than frequently bringing him in to have his urine checked. She says if he gets another kidney infection he could lose all kidney function. Is it true that there is nothing we can do to prevent another infection? Is there any special diet or anything else we can do to prevent further damage to his kidneys?

moorec23 · 10-23-2006, 08:07 PM

I am in a similar situation - this is what I posted today: "I have a 9 month old boxer puppy.Ever since we got him when he was 8 weeks old, he has had a problem with frequent urination. We took him to the vet several times for what we and they thought was Urinary Tract infections and kidney infections. Well, about 4 months ago, after being on antibiotics for over 2 months with no help, they sent us to an internal medicine specialist. Turns out that he had kidney damage. At that time, they couldn't tell us whether the damage was done by the infections he had that had gotten into his kidney, or if he has Renal Dysplasia. We just did his first checkup, and apparently he's getting worse which leads me to believe that it's Renal Dysplasia (my vet is supposed to call me back with more details). Has anyone had to deal with this in their dog? Everything I've seen and been told says there's nothing you can do for it. We are restricting his protein intake as much as we can, but since he's still a growing puppy, they didn't want it reduced too much. I just can't stand the thought of having to put him down since he is a very happy loving dog."

So, to answer your question, no there isn't anything you can do to prevent the infection. Not what you wanted to hear...I know. But we were told that we needed to restrict the amount of protein he is on. Like I said, since Max is so young, we couldn't restrict it too much, but there is a dog food out there for this kind of problem. I think it's call KD Dog food...but I'm not positive. Your vet should be able to tell you. The other thing we were told is that he has to have access to water at ALL TIMES. If they have kidney problems and they get dehydrated, it can be fatal.

Is your dog showing any symptoms? Frequent urination, vomiting, lethargy?

cja6335 · 10-24-2006, 03:40 PM

He isn't really having any symptoms. In fact the only way we found out he had a kidney infection was b/c he was acting very lethargic. Every since we started his anti-biotics he has been completely back to normal. We finished the anti-biotics about a week ago and he seems fine. I guess all I can do is watch him to see if he starts acting lethargic again. My vet did not tell me anything about the protein although I have read about it on the internet. I am going to take Riley in to another vet just to get a second opinion and see what recommendations he has.

Luckeejp · 10-24-2006, 07:30 PM

I had a 13yr old Cocker Spaneil who had advanced Kidney disease. She had survived the disease for 2 yrs from diagnosis. My recommendations is to bring the dog in freqently for bood tests for a full reanl panel to keep on top of it. We also had to give her sub Q fluids under her skin in the last 6 mos to supliment what the kidneys were not able to flush out.